Death Is Not An Option
by Skies grey-blue
Summary: "I clung to those words Fang had messily scrawled on that sheet of paper for years. Years. Finally, it's the day we are to meet again. But Fang never came. I finally realized that each and every one of those few words he ever uttered to me in my life were filthy lies." But Fang would rather die than disappoint Max. What happened to him? Because for him, death was never an option.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys. Thanks to everyone who clicks on this story. I usually don't read these kind of fanfics (I like reading a lot of AU and no wings fanfics) but one day I was just like "I wants to write one!" In that weird accent. Um, so I did. Yeah so thanks and please R&R. Or don't. Your choice. But an R&R would be double-stuffed Oreos cool. So really cool.**

**-M**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. Kudos to you, Mr. Patterson. **

**P.S. This story happens after Fang. Pretend Angel and Nevermore doesn't happen and that in Fang's letter to Max, he says meet in 10 years not 20 years. **

_Max's POV_

He's gone.

That hit me hard. It felt like a train ran over me, leaving me broken and breathless. Leaving me dead.

_10 years later_

Well guess what? I'm still alive. Whoop dee doo. I'm twenty four years old now, for those of you who aren't the brightest in math. The past ten years have probably been the most useless, boring, and wasted years of my life.

In the beginning, there were a lot of tears. I had locked myself in my room at my mom's house and sobbed for hours to no end, curling up into a ball on my bed. Everyone had tried to coax me out but I ignored them each time. Dylan finally had to kick the door down. He'd charged in with my mom, who had a tray of chocolate chip cookies in hand.

"Oh, sweetie," she had whispered, placing the tray down and squeezing me tight.

I saw her making a shooing motion at Dylan. He'd gone away after eyeing me with concern. Dr. Martinez had held me until my tears ran out and the uncontrollable weeping dwindled down to the occasional sob. She told me stories, and sung me songs, never once even uttering his name. I was thankful for that. We spent the rest of the night like that, as I shoved cookies down my throat. For the week after, I tried my best to get back to normal. Just smiling weakly at the flock and avoiding their questioning glances.

But that didn't really help, it only pushed away the pain. It buried it deep into the back of my mind. My heart still remembered him though, all the time. So that's when I decided to just let everything go. I began to act like a zombie. Lifeless. I pushed away anyone and everything. After a while of that behaviour, they finally let me be. Even _Dylan_ gave up on me. And they moved on too. Iggy began to become more like a leader. Dylan and Angel helped. There weren't anymore flyboy attacks or whitecoats. It was like they just forgot about us. We just disappeared from their radar. I'm extremely grateful for that.

Dr. Martinez and Ella continued with their lives. Everyone did. Except for me. I wish I could say they're all safe and living their happily ever afters, but I wouldn't know. A year of my zombie mode and I figured that I was just a nuisance. The Flock was really cautious around me, careful to never mention you-know-who, like his name would set me off like a bomb (which it most likely would). So I left. I packed up, said goodbye, and flew away. They had begged me to stay, saying that they still needed me, but I knew in my heart that they really didn't. I had made up my mind. I told them I needed time to think and that I'd come back when I was done. With that I cut off all contact with them. I haven't talked to any of them since.

I just drifted from place to place. During that time I began to think a lot about him again. Shock, agony, depression, and a furious, red-hot anger. But finally, I just fell into a bleak sadness. The world hasn't ended yet. No apocalypse, no tsunami, no giant meatball falling out of the sky. Nothing. Oh well. I wasn't planning on continuing to save the world anyways.

Today is a really important day. Right now, I'm flying towards the top of the cliff where we first met the hawks. Yes, I'm going there to meet him. And I sure hope he's going there to meet me.

The sun is just peeking up from the horizon and it's rays stretch across the sky brilliantly. It's been awhile since I've seen a sunrise and I've forgotten how beautiful they are. My wings slice through the chilly morning air and it combs through my hair delightfully, but all I can think about is him.

Does he miss me as much as I've missed him? Did he hurt inside every second of every day since he left me? Will he be there? I finally see the cliff that he'd said he'll meet me at, all those years ago. Suddenly, a nervous jolt courses through me. What will he think after all these years? I push away the anxiousness and fly even faster towards the ledge. I skid to a stop. Looking around, it's basically the same way we'd left it all those years ago. Bare and stone. Nothing and no one, else.

Still, I take a shaking breath and call out his name.

"Fang?"

Silence. He's not here.

A wave of dizziness blurs my vision and I drop to the floor._ Breathe Max. He could still be on his way. Yeah, he's probably flying here right now. I hold onto that thought and crawl over to the ledge of the cave. I'll just have to wait._

The early morning sky intensified to a bright blue as time passed. A group of hawks dipped and soared. I smiled, remembering the time when the Flock and I learned to fly with them. Morning became afternoon, afternoon became evening. I sat, then paced, sat, and paced some more. By midnight I finally collapsed back onto the ground, choking on my sobs and finally breaking into tears. I put on the full show, with waterworks, wailing, fist punching, and all. He wasn't planning on coming back for me. All of his words and promises were lies.

I remember his warm eyes and dark hair. His occasional smirks and brilliant smiles. The feeling of accomplishment when I made him laugh. Laugh. He had the nicest laugh. And the few words he spoke were always so important to me. But they were all lies.

I waited until the morning, and the next, then the next. I waited for him for hours, days, a whole freaking week.

But he never came.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello there my little minions. What is a happening? Here is the third chapter! I tried to make it a bit longer. Haha psych! You thought I didn't know how to count! BAHAHAHAHAHAHA! What a knee slapper. Ok jk, here's the fourth chapter ;) **

**Thanks to my first (and only lol) reviewer, sakuraorihimeetc. You really made my day :) Links to him/her below. And if any of you guys take the time to review thanks, I really appreciate it!**

**u/4478124/sakuraorihimeetc**

**Enjoy!**

**-M**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any hybrid children with wings super-glued to their backs. They're all yours JP.**

10 years later

Different POV

I remember that day so clearly.

She sat there on the cliff, beautiful as ever. She acted so unlike herself, so nervous, that it would have been funny. But it wasn't. I was perched on a tall tree, one of many in the forest surrounding the cliff. I was as close to her as I dared to be and was directly in front of the entrance of the cave. I could see every trace of excitement on her face. I remember everything. From her wind-blown hair to her radiant eyes, and the way they softened when they looked at me. And how she cared for the Flock. She had the loveliest laughs, though they were rare. Her cleverness. Her kindness. Her warmth. I remember everything.

Suddenly, she looked up at the sky and smiled. And I swear, it was like the sun shone for the first time in years. No matter how cheesy that sounds. I missed that smile for so long. It almost made me swoop in and scoop her up into my arms, to never let go of her again. But I couldn't. And that broke my heart.

Morning came and went. Afternoon into evening. Evening then night. The whole time I stood there, on my branch. Watched her become more impatient with every second. I watched as the hope drained so painfully away from her eyes.

At midnight she finally broke. She cried and cried and cried. I've never seen her cry this much. I cried with her, all through the night, hating that I was the cause of her misery and that I couldn't do anything about it. She stayed there for a whole week, never leaving the cliff. She drank and ate the few things stuffed in her backpack. She waited for me.

Finally, she left. On the morning of the eighth day she just jumped off the edge and flew away, her wings as magnificent as I remembered. And she disappeared over the horizon.

It's been ten years now. I'm thirty-four but still look twenty years old. That's pretty cool I guess. I've spent the past twenty years of my life in a lab. Whitecoats poking at me, injecting me, forcing foul liquids down my throat. Working me until I was literally clinging to life, just to see if it is actually possible to kill me.

Let me explain: My name is Fang and I love Maximum Ride. That's pretty much all that I am sure about in my life.

*20 years ago*

When I left her and the Flock, it was because of my Voice. Yes, I have a Voice too. It told me that I put them all in danger, that I would lead them to their deaths. And I knew it as well. So after a lot of thought I decided to leave. Better them safe than me.

That's about where everything went downhill. After a month on my own, which I spent drifting from town to town and trying to settle my mind, a man approached me in the middle of a clearing in a forest I was crashing in. He looked normal enough. Grey hair, grey eyes, in his mid thirties, and a thousand Erasers behind him. Oh wait. Yeah, I said a thousand.

"Hello, Fang." he says, his voice as dull as his looks.

I tense and don't respond, knowing a fight is coming soon. One that I have absolutely no chance of getting out alive.

"Now, now," he tsks, "no need to get worked up. My friends and I are just here to have a little...chat." His lips turn up into a sneer.

I glare at him and snarl, "Don't move any closer."

"Oh how positively terrifying."

"What do you want?" I ask, slowly moving into a fighting stance.

"You."

I smirk. Raising an eyebrow I say, "You know, that's a bit creepy coming from you."

The other man takes a slight pause of surprise and I take the opportunity to subtly shift my eyes around, trying to spot a better escape route than just an up-and-away.

The grey man snorts and takes a step towards me with a spark in his eyes. "Not in that way, Fang. You cannot begin to understand how important you are in the advancement of mankind."

"What do you mean?" I grind out, shuffling a half-step back.

"I mean, my dear boy, that you hold the key to immortality."

That was it. He was definitely off his rockers. Someone call the wagon to Looneyville, I think they missed a stop. But deep in the back of my mind I hear a voice whisper, "You know he's right."

I couldn't tell if it was the Voice or just a voice. I shake my head and push the thought away.

"Sure."

"I'm serious, Fang. Your DNA is practically indestructible. Scientists have been looking for someone like you for many centuries. And now, we have finally found you."

"Look, I appreciate you taking your time to find me, I really do. But I think you got the wrong mutant freak."

"Okay, Fang," the man sighs, "we'll do this the easy way or the hard way. You're choice. We can beat the fluff out of you and then take you to the School, or you can turn yourself over. Either way, you're coming with us."

So the dude is from the School. I should've known. It's not like they'd just forget about me. Especially if they found out about the strange and dangerous changes I'm going through.

I take a breath and spit it out before I can regret it, "Bring it on."

"How unfortunate." That's all he says before, with a flick of his wrist, the army of Erasers starts to rush at me.

I immediately shoot upwards to make an escape by air but I hear the loud bang of a gun being shot and I feel a searing pain in my left wing. I tip off balance and hurtle back towards the ground. I see the grey man tucking a gun into his suit. Darn it.

I hop up onto my feet and quickly tuck in my wings, ignoring the pure agony that the movement caused. I take the first few Erasers down with a roundhouse kick and a couple of jabs here and there. Yes, I love this. This is what I was made for.

One furry guy was able to get a grip on my leg as I was kicking his butt and he drags me to the ground and get a good one to my ribs. I twist violently and knock him off his feet and punch him directly in the nose. That sucker is going to wake up with one heck of a headache. Once I'm on my feet I snap out my wings and get a few Erasers in the face in the process. I just hope the wound from the bullet isn't too bad. I dart up to escape again but someone latches onto my foot so I smash both of my feet into his head. He staggers but still holds a tight grip on me and rips my body to the ground. This is it.

A thousand Erasers were on me in seconds and two of them pin my arms back and another punches me in the gut repeatedly. Finally, he pulls back his fist and punches me straight in the face. Crack. That's a broken nose for sure. Blood flows freely down my face and the guy in front of me gets two more punches in, one on the eye and another square to my jaw. By now, my vision is a mess and I would surely be crumpled on the ground if not for the meaty hands holding me up. I can see the blurry image of the Eraser winding up for another punch and I prepare myself for the blow that will surely end all of this pain. Suddenly, someone yells, "Enough!"

The sea of Erasers part and make a path for the grey man walking towards me. The hands leave my arms and I fall to the floor and start to cough up a whole lot of blood. When I am done, I slowly raise my face to meet the man in the suit. He glares down at my pitiful state.

"This could've been so much easier, Fang," he says while walking towards me. He stops right in front of me, collapsed on the ground, so he is blocking the sun. "But I suppose you would never have given up without a fight."

He got that right.

I collect all of what is left of me and bloodily spit on his expensive shoes. I let myself indulge in a small grin as the man's face curls up in disgust. However, it is knocked off my face a moment later. He kicks me in the ribs harder than I ever thought possible. I hear multiple snaps and black out.

"...one thousand six, twenty-two, five hundred ninety-one, seven..."

_Arrrrggggghhhhhh!_

This has been going on for hours. When I woke up I found myself in a metal dog crate. I was at the School again, and I was suddenly assaulted with past memories that I would have liked to keep locked away at the back of my mind.

So I now have a killer headache, my left wing is messed up, and my ribs hurt like nails were hammered into me. I can tell that the grey man had broken at least two of them and bruised many more. My face also feels like a giant bruise. On top of that, there is another mutant kid crouched in a cage across the small room muttering random numbers endlessly. I want to scream my head off then chuck it at the kid.

I feel bad for him though. He looks pretty normal. Messy brown hair, two arms, two legs, no additional do-dads. Except when he glanced up at me before, I was seriously freaked out. His haunted green eyes stared at me like he was looking right through me. And he had no mouth. Nothing but smooth skin over the place where there should have been a mouth. So I have no idea how he's even saying those numbers and truthfully, I don't really want to know.

Even though I feel sorry for him, no amount of pity would have stopped me from wanting to claw his eyes out. Come on, you try listening to his chatter for three hours straight. You'd want to do more than just ripping him to shreds.

CLANG.

The other guy shuts up abruptly.

_Finally, peace at last._

Then I hear the footsteps coming towards my cage. I try to push myself up into a sitting position but I can literally feel my ribs trying to punch a hole through my chest. I ended up propped up on my elbows, craning my neck. The footsteps are slowing and I can see a form coming closer.

The guy in the cage starts to mumble again, this time the numbers flow more rapidly and are said in a whisper.

The person nearing us is close enough for me to figure out that he is a man in an expensive suit and he os holding a cane. His face is hidden in shadows, though. The soft clicking of his shoes cease and he suddenly turns towards the other guy's cage.

"SHUT UP!" he roars and swings his cane at the cage with such force that the bars dent inwards.

The garbled words stop. The kid whimpers then quickly scuttles away into the back corner of his cage. I can see from here that his eyes are looking at the man with pure fear, like a deer caught in headlights. The man takes a deep breath, exhales, and composes himself.

Then he turned on his heel to face me.

"Hello Fang."

Crap.

**A/N: *Gasp!* Oh no what shall happen to poor Fangy poo? ****How is it so far? Too boring? Too slow or fast? Do you like Fang's point of view? Please review :) Thanks!**


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